Vertically adjustable lectern



w. M. TONEY ET AL 2,733,970

VERTICALLY ADJUSTABLE LECTERN F eb. 7, 1956 Filed March l1, 1954 3Sheets-Shes?.l l

WMTO/vey .2/LE c /'o Z Z6 INVENTOHS.

BY l l A ATTORNEYS.

Feb. 7, 1956 w. M. ToNr-:Y ET AL 2,733,970

VERTICALLY ADJUSTABLE LECTERN Filed March ll, 1954 3 Sheets-Sinaai'l 2WM 'T'O n@ EAI@ Ong INVENTORS,

BY I l f 4 ATTORNEYS United States Patent lO This invention relates to avertically adjustable lectern and more particularly to a verticallyadjustable desk for holding a speech or lecture to be delivered to agroup of people as in a hall, school or other location for an assembly.

'It is a primary object of this invention to provide a verticallyadjustable lectern of the kind to be more particularly describedhereinafter which may be adjusted by a person reading notes from paperson the desk top of the lectern, while delivering a lecture. This type ofvertically adjustable lectern is particularly suited for personrequiring the use of bi-focal eyeglasses since the lectern may beadjusted by a person to suit the lens desired to be used and changed foruse with the other lens at another distance.

It is another object of this invention to provide a verticallyadjustable lectern of this kind which maybe properly adjusted by aperson so that the lectern may be used by persons of different sizeswhen the size of consecutive speakers may vary between the differentspeakers without disassembling and reassembling any parts of thelectern.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a lectern of thiskind which may be constructed of readily obtainable parts and assembledat a low cost with due consideration directed to the strength anddurability of the device.

Other and further objects and advantages of this invention will behereinafter described and the novel features thereof defined in theappended claim.

In the drawings:

Fig. l is a top plan view of a lectern constructed according to anembodiment of our invention.

Fig. 2 is a front elevation.

Fig. 3 is a side elevation.

Fig. 4 is a front elevation, partly in section, taken on the line 4-4 ofFig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a longitudinal section taken on the line 55 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 6 is a transverse section of the lectern.

Fig. 7 is a transverse section of the lectern taken on the line 7-7 ofFig. 4.

Referring now more specifically to the drawings the numeral 10designates generally a lectern constructed according to an embodiment ofour invention.

The lectern 10 is particularly adapted to be used by persons reading aspeech or a lecture to a group of people as in a school or assembly halland the lectern is so designed that the speech or lecture may be held ata desirable position for the convenience of the lecturer or speaker.

Frequently at lectures or readings of this kind more than one lecturerWill read a lecture or part of a speech to the listening audience, andin the event that there is a difference in the height of the speakersthe lectern may readily be adjusted to suit the particular speaker atany one time. y

The lectern 10 may be adjusted by the speaker rotat- "ice ing a crankconveniently located at the forward side of the lectern.

The lectern 10 is provided with a xed base 11 having verticallyextending side, front and rear walls thereon. The vertically extendingwalls 12 on the base 11 are fixed thereto by any conventional means.

A desk top 13 is positioned above the base 11 and above the upper edgeof the vertically extending side walls 12. The desk top 13 is providedwith depending walls 14 on the sides, front and rear edges thereof, theside Walls 14 of the desk top 13 being arranged within the confines ofthe vertically extending walls 12 fixed on the base 11.

A top frame 15 is positioned on the lower side of the desk top 13 forthe purposes to be described hereinafter.

The desk top 13 is connected to the base 11 by pairs of verticallyextending arms 16, the arms 16 being swingable relative to the base andto the desk top. One end of each of the arms 16 is pivoted on the lowerside of the desk top 13 by pivot pins 17 which are secured to the desktop 13 and top frame 15 extending horizontally therefrom. f v

A longitudinally extending shaft 18 is rotatably mounted on the base 11,the adjacent ends of the longitudinal shaft 18 being rotatably supportedin one end of a bracket 19 which is fixed to the upper side of the base11.

The longitudinal shaft 18 is provided with a segment of a worm 20adjacent each opposite end thereof for the purposes to be hereinaftermore specifically described. One end of the longitudinal shaft 18 isextended through the front wall of the vertical walls 12 so that aspeaker using the lectern may readily reach a handle 21 which is xed tothe outer end of the outwardly extending porytion of the longitudinalshaft 18. Upon rotation of the handle 21 and longitudinal shaft 18 thevertical position of the desk top 13 relative to the base 11 may beadjusted by the speaker.

The worm 20 is operatively engaged with the peripheral teeth of wormgears 22 which are xed to and spaced slightly from the opposite ends ofeach transverse shaft 23, each of the transverse shafts being rotatableadjacent their ends in a bracket 24 which is fixed to the base 11. Thetransverse shafts 23 substantially cross asfrom one side to the other ofthe longitudinal shaft 18 so that the worm gears 22 on each of thetransverse shafts 23 may be actuated by the worms on the longitudinalshaft 18.

An internally threaded nut member 25 is threadably engaged with each ofthe transverse shafts 23 for longitudinal movement thereon upon rotationof the transverse shafts and each of the nut members 25 has a pivot pin26 extending outwardly therefrom for pivotal engagement with the lowerend of an arm 16.

As the longitudinal shaft 18 is caused to be rotated by the handle 21the desk top 13 will be moved upwardly or downwardly, depending upon thedirection of rotation of the longitudinal shaft 18, so that the desk top13 may be adjusted to the height desired by the speaker at that A lamp27 is xed to the upper side of the desk top 13 by brackets 2S which areengaged at each end of lamp, as shown in the drawings, the lamp 27 beingpositioned adjacent to the upstanding wall 29 which is fixed to the desktop 13 extending vertically upwardly therefrom.

Also carried by the desk top 13 is a pair of spaced apart longitudinalarms 30 which also engage the upper edge of the vertically upstandingwall 29 on the desk top as clearly indicated in Fig. 5 of the drawings.While the upstanding wall 29 will support one end of each of thelongitudinally extending arms 30 the other end, or forward end of eachof the arms 30 is supported by a supporting post 31 which is xed to theupper side of the desk top 13 adjacent to the forward edge thereof andengages with the lower side of each' of the longitudinal particulartime.

arms 39 also clearly shown in Fig. 5 of the drawings. In the event thatthe' lamp 27 is of the electric type a socket 32 is positioned adjacentto one of the ends of one of the walls 12 which are fixed to the base11.

In order to prevent any glare from the upper side of the desk top 13there is provided a fixed lamp shade 33 spaced from the upstanding arm29 so that the papers, being read or used by the speaker, will not causeglare from the lectern.

In the use and operation of the lectern 10 described above, the paper orpapers used as reference by a speaker are placedl on the upper surfaceof the desk top' 13 and the desk top 13` may be adjusted vertically bythe speaker upon rotation of the handle 21 so that the desk top 13 willbe manually moved to a higher or lower position, to meet therequirements of the particular lecturer.

While the specific details of this invention have been herein shown anddescribed the invention is not confined thereto as changes andalterations may be made without departing from the scope and' spiritthereof as dened in the appended claim.

We claim:

In a vertically adjustable lectern, a box-like base having an open top,a vertically movable inclined desk top including depending side and endwalls, tted within said base for vertical sliding movement with respect'thereto, an upstanding wall formed along one end of said desk top,vertical supporting posts secured to the other end of said desk top,parallel arm rests secured to said upstanding end Wall and beingconnected to the upper ends of said posts supporting said arm rests ininclined positions parallel with said desk top, in spaced relationtherewith, said arm, rests being horizontally spaced apart exposingsaid` desk top and material supported thereon, and manually controlledmeansy for raising and lowering said top and bottom restssimultaneously.

References Cited in the lev of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 757,807Hazard Apr. 19, 1904 862,791 Bawden et al. Aug. 6, 1907 1,381,837Hopaidaska June 14, 1921 1,398,237 Michaels Nov. 29, 1921 1,730,252Temple Oct. 1, 1929 2,260,371 Forsberg Oct. 28, 1941 2,531,880 HerringNov. 28, 1950 2,587,094 Berg et al. Feb. 26', 1952 2,649,137 Rober-tsAug. 18, 1953 2,649,345 Hubbard Aug. 18, 1953

